Multiple deployment of applications with multiple configurations in an industrial automation environment

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided to implement a design apparatus for applications in an industrial automation environment. The design apparatus is configured to maintain multiple configuration settings in connection with an application project. At deployment-time, a particular configuration can be selected and utilized when building an application for installation on a target device. The same application project can be utilized to deploy the application to multiple systems through selection of different configurations.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates to a design apparatus that can maintaindiscrete sets of application configuration settings in association withan application project and deploy an application, based on theapplication project, to multiple targets, in an industrial automationenvironment, in accordance with multiple configurations.

BACKGROUND

In an automation environment such as a factory, a processing plant, amaterial handling facility, or any other suitable venue at whichautomation is present, a wide array of equipment is utilized. This widearray of equipment can include, for example, various manufacturingmachines such as batch processing machines, material handling machines,fabrication machines, welding machines, packaging machines, finishingmachines, transportation machines, and the like. The equipment in anautomation environment can be monitored and controlled via a pluralityof controllers coupled to a plurality of sensors, I/O modules, drives,etc.

Also, associated with the industrial machines and/or controllers arehuman-machine interface (HMI) devices. HMI devices can includephysical-type interfaces including a plurality of physical buttons,switches, knobs displays, indicators, and so on. Increasingly, however,conventional HMIs are being replaced with graphical user interfaces(GUIs) displayed, for example, on display screens. In some cases, thedisplays screens can be touch screens which can handle user input whiledisplaying output. For instance, machines can include terminals (e.g.,touch screens) embedded therein that can execute applications configuredto generate the HMI GUI, receive user input, process user input, etc. Inanother example, terminals can be standalone devices, e.g., generalpurpose computing devices such as a personal computer, located remote orseparate from the machines. However, such standalone machines canexecute similar applications and/or provide similar control of machinefunctions as the embedded counterparts. Further, terminals can be of aportable nature such as a mobile operator interface device, e.g., atablet computer, which can be carried to, and connected with, aplurality machines as desired. It is to be appreciated that while theterm terminal is utilized hereafter, the term terminal encompasses allinstances of devices and configurations as described, and accordinglyincludes personal computing device, HMI, machine located terminal,machine located HMI, test system, stand alone terminal, stand alone HMI,and the like.

To provide rich HMI applications, the terminals can communicate withcontrollers managing machines associated with the applications. Viacommunications with the controllers, HMI applications can retrievecontroller variables (e.g., machine conditions, machine inputs, machineoutputs, etc.) for display on the GUI and can forward commands receivedvia the GUI to the controllers. The commands can operate to changecontroller variables, execute processes, make changes to runningprocesses, override automated actions with operator-supplied actions,etc.

To enable such communications, the application, at design time, can beconfigured with connection information, which is utilized to locate andconnect with controllers once the application is deployed on a terminal.The configuration information (e.g., such as the connection informationbut can also include security information) is typically fixedlyassociated with the application and, in particular, an applicationproject employed to build and deploy the application to a terminal. Dueto this tight coupling, an HMI application, when created, becomescoupled to a particular machine.

For instance, a machine builder (e.g., an original equipmentmanufacturer (OEM)) can create an HMI application with one configurationand deliver the machine (with application) to a customer where theconfigured is modified in accordance with the customer's systems.Several iterations of this procedure can occur when, for example, aproblem occurs and the machine or application needs servicing orupdating. The application, when returned to the manufacturer, isreconfigured to original settings for continued development and testing.When an updated application is returned to the customer, the applicationis yet again reconfigured. Such frequent reconfigurations can lead toerrors or mistakes.

In another example, an identical application can be deployed to similarmachines placed with a factory (e.g., redundant process lines).Conventionally, the application is duplicated and respective duplicatesare configured for a particular machine. Handling multiple projectduplicates and configurations can lead to mishandling and otherconfiguration errors. Similarly, users who desire to maintain testsystems, pilot production systems and/or primary production systems alsomaintain duplicate application projects and configurations. Suchdeployment can be by a variety of means. In one aspect an applicationcan be downloaded directly to any one of a machine, HMI, controller,etc. In another aspect an electronic file can be created which containsthe configuration application and configuration settings for targetequipment (e.g., a plurality of machines) with a user moving from onemachine, HMI, controller, etc., to another and downloading/installingthe application individually by such means as a FTP file transfer or viaa removable memory card such as a USB memory stick, SD memory card, andthe like.

Typically, mechanisms to manage multiple configurations for HMIapplication, controller applications, and/or other software applicationswithin an industrial automation environment involve manual processes tocreate multiple copies, and to change settings for the copy when theapplication deployed according to a different configuration. Anotherapproach is to employ an automated tool which enables a configuration tobe exported, altered, and re-imported. In yet another conventionalapproach, an application program interface (API) can be leveraged tochange configurations back and forth. In the aforementioned techniques,however, end user customers are burdened with a time consuming and errorprone task for managing an application project.

Further, in another approach, a designer may require a first version ofan application is loaded onto a test/pilot system while a second versionof an application is loaded onto one or more machines comprising aproduction system which is being modeled/mimicked by the test/pilotsystem.

In a further approach, a manufacturer/supplier (e.g., OEM) of a machinemay supply the same machine version to a plurality of endusers/manufacturers. The OEM may desire to maintain a single projectcomprising configuration settings for each of their customers. Hence, arequirement can evolve where a plurality of applications have to bedeveloped and managed in accord with their individual customersrequirements. Accordingly, a single application may have a plurality ofrevision levels such as customer A receives revision 1 of a GUIvisualization, while customer B receives revision 2 of the GUIvisualization. Hence, each time an application is deployed appropriatecontent, e.g., specific to a particular customer, is deployed.

The above-described deficiencies of conventional HMI applicationsettings management solutions are merely intended to provide an overviewof some of the problems of conventional systems and techniques, and arenot intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systemsand techniques, and corresponding benefits of the various non-limitingembodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review ofthe following description.

SUMMARY

A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic orgeneral understanding of various aspects of exemplary, non-limitingembodiments that follow in the more detailed description and theaccompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as anextensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the sole purpose of thissummary is to present some concepts related to some exemplarynon-limiting embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the moredetailed description of the various embodiments that follow.

In various, non-limiting embodiments, a design apparatus configured tofacilitate development of applications in an industrial automationenvironment is described. The design apparatus is configured to maintainmultiple configuration settings in connection with an applicationproject. At deployment-time, a particular configuration can be selectedand utilized when building an application for installation on a targetdevice. The same application project can be utilized to deploy theapplication to multiple, disparate systems through selection ofdifferent configurations.

These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for deploying an application, from an application project, toa target based on a configuration corresponding to the target;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingindustrial automation environment configured to utilize one or moreaspects of the subject disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limiting designapparatus, implemented on a computing system, configured to facilitatedeployment of an application to multiple targets with respectiveconfigurations;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for developing an application;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting act ofmodifying (developing) an application project in accordance with userinput;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for creating a configuration associated with a deploymenttarget;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for generating a configuration based on an analysis of adeployment target;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limiting designapparatus configured to manage and generate configurations utilized todeploy an application project to a target;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for deploying an application to a target in accordance with aconfiguration;

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting designapparatus configured to download a configured application to a target;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure;

FIGS. 16-23 are exemplary, non-limiting illustrations of user interfacesof an design apparatus in accordance with one or more aspects;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment fordeploying configuration(s) in accordance with one or more aspects;

FIG. 25 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for deploying a configuration to a target in accordance witha configuration in accordance with one or more aspects;

FIG. 26 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for querying a device in accordance with one or more aspects;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram representing exemplary non-limiting networkedenvironments in which various embodiments described herein can beimplemented; and

FIG. 28 is a block diagram representing an exemplary non-limitingcomputing system or operating environment in which one or more aspectsof various embodiments described herein can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

General Overview

As discussed in the background, conventional application developmentenvironments for industrial automation products typically maintainsystem settings and other configurations within an application projectsuch that the application project is associated with a single group ofsettings. Accordingly, to deploy an application project to multiplesimilar machines and/or to different environments (e.g., productionenvironment, testing environment, OEM environment, end user customerenvironment, etc.) manual alteration of settings occurs prior todeployment. Manual processes and/or frequent changes to settings canlead to errors, which can have many repercussions. For instance, anerror in an IP address of a controller can result in an HMI applicationon a terminal pulling data from a different controller than which wasintended. This can lead to undesirable operating conditions goingunnoticed, faulty machine output which is difficult to diagnose,conflicting user input at a controller from multiple terminals, commandinputs being sent to a wrong machine, and so on.

In various, non-limiting embodiments, a design apparatus forapplications (e.g., HMI application, controller applications, terminalapplications, etc.) in an industrial automation environment is providedthat enables development of applications and configuration information.With the design apparatus, control applications (e.g., for controllers)and/or visualization applications (e.g., HMI applications, forterminals) can be developed. A design of an application is retained inan application project managed by the design apparatus.

As described above, typically, configurations for a specific deploymenttarget (e.g., a specific controller or specific terminal) are maintainedwith the application project. Thus, there is one set of configurationsfor a given application project. To deploy the application project to atarget different than an original target, the configurations arechanged. The design apparatus, described herein, maintainsconfigurations separate from the application projects. Accordingly, bymaintaining multiple sets of configurations, the design apparatusenables deployment of an application, from a single application project,to multiple targets respectively associated with distinctconfigurations.

In one embodiment, an apparatus is described herein that includes acomputer-readable storage medium configured to retain an applicationproject, associated with an application, and a plurality of sets ofconfiguration information corresponding to the application project, anda processor, coupled to the computer-readable storage medium, configuredto execute computer-executable modules stored on the computer-readablestorage medium. In an example, the computer-executable modules caninclude a designer module configured to expose and to activate aplurality of development tools employable to generate content, containedwithin the application project, that specifies the application, and adeployment module configured to install the application to a targetbased on the application project and a set of configuration information,of the plurality of sets of configuration information, respectivelyassociated with the target. In another example, the computer-readablemedium includes a plurality of data stores, wherein the plurality ofdata stores can include a development library store configured to retaina plurality of development libraries available for incorporation intothe application project and for utilization by the application, anapplication project store configured to retain a plurality ofapplication projects, an application configuration store configured tostore the plurality of sets of configuration information, and a targetinformation store configured to retain information related to devices towhich the application is deployable.

According to further embodiments, the computer-executable modules storedon the computer-readable storage medium can include a configurationmodule configured to generate the plurality of sets of configurationinformation, to store the plurality of sets of configuration informationto the computer-readable storage medium, and to modify one or more setsof the plurality of sets of configuration information. According to anexample, the configuration module can include an autonomousconfiguration module configured to evaluate target information relatedto the target and autonomously generate the set of configurationinformation associated with the target. In addition, the autonomousconfiguration module can include a target analysis module configured toidentify characteristics of the target based on the target information,a network analysis module configured to determine network settings ofthe target based on network information included in the targetinformation, a security analysis module configured to identify securitypolicies associated with the target, an application analysis moduleconfigured to identify characteristics of the application based on theapplication project, and a configuration generation module configured togenerate the set of configuration information associated with the targetbased on information provided by at least one of the target analysismodule, the network analysis module, the security analysis module, orthe application analysis module. Further still, the computer-executablemodules stored on the computer-readable storage medium can include anenvironment evaluation module configured to obtain environmentalinformation regarding an system environment in which the target islocated, to query the target to obtain device information, and tocompile the environmental information and the device information intothe target information.

In accordance with additional examples, the deployment module caninclude a target identification module configured to determine thetarget which selected for application deployment and to extract the setof configuration information from the plurality of sets of configurationinformation based on the determination of the target selected. Inaddition, the deployment module can include a build module configured tocompile the application project to generate the application and toconfigure the application compiled in accordance with the set ofconfiguration information. Further, the deployment module can include adownload module configured to download the application to the target.

In yet another example, the application can be at least one of a controlapplication deployable to a controller or a visualization applicationdeployable to a terminal, wherein the controller and the terminal areincluded in an industrial automation environment. The terminal,according to another example, can be embedded in an industrial apparatusin the industrial automation environment.

According to further embodiments, a method is described herein thatincludes identifying a first entity to which to install an applicationspecified by an application project file, extracting first configurationinformation of a plurality of configuration information, wherein thefirst configuration information corresponds to the first entity, anddeploying the application to the first entity based on the applicationproject file and the first configuration information, wherein the firstentity is at least one of a controller or a human-machine interface(HMI) terminal within an industrial automation environment. In anexample, the method can also include identifying a second entity towhich to install the application specified by the application projectfile, extracting second configuration information from the plurality ofconfiguration information, wherein the second configuration informationcorresponds to the second entity, and installing the application to thesecond entity based on the application project file and the secondconfiguration information, wherein the first configuration informationis distinct from the second configuration information and theapplication installed on the first entity and the second entity derivesfrom an identical application project file.

In another example, installing the application to the second entityfurther comprises deploying the application to a development systemcontaining the second entity, and the deploying the application to thefirst entity further comprises deploying the application to a productionsystem containing the first entity. According to a different example,installing the application to the second entity further comprisesdeploying the application to an original equipment manufacturer systemcontaining the second entity, and the deploying the application to thefirst entity further comprises deploying the application to a customersystem containing the first entity.

According to further examples, the method can include receivingconfiguration input related to the first entity of the industrialautomation environment, generating the first configuration informationbased on the configuration input, and including the first configurationinformation in the plurality of configuration information. In anotherembodiment, the method includes receiving target information associatedwith the first entity, evaluating the target information to identifycharacteristics of the first entity, generating the first configurationinformation based on the characteristics of the first entity, andincluding the first configuration information in the plurality ofconfiguration information. Moreover, the method can include deployingthe application to a third entity based on the application project fileand the first configuration information.

In an additional embodiment, a system is described herein that includesa controller, communicatively coupled to an industrial apparatus, andconfigured to, at least one of, monitor operation of the industrialapparatus or direct the operation of the industrial apparatus, aterminal, communicatively coupled to the controller, and configured toexecute a visualization application which is configured to visuallydisplay a state of the industrial machine, wherein the state is receivedfrom the controller; and a design apparatus. In an example, the designapparatus can include a processor, coupled to a computer-readablestorage medium, configured to execute computer-executable modulesretained on the computer-readable storage medium. Thecomputer-executable modules can include a configuration moduleconfigured to manage a plurality of configuration information, whereinrespective configuration information, from the plurality ofconfiguration information, is respectively associated with respectivecontrollers from a set of controllers which includes the controller andrespective terminals from a set of terminals which includes theterminal, and a deployment module configured to install thevisualization application to the terminal based on first configurationinformation, of the plurality of configuration information, wherein thefirst configuration information specifies parameters to enable theterminal to communicate with the controller. In yet another example, thesystem can include a second controller, communicatively coupled to asecond industrial apparatus, and configured to, at least one of, monitoroperation of the second industrial apparatus or direct the operation ofthe second industrial apparatus, and a second terminal, communicativelycoupled to the second controller, and configured to execute thevisualization application which is configured to visually display astate of the second industrial apparatus, wherein the state is receivedfrom the second controller, wherein the deployment module is furtherconfigured to install the visualization application to the secondterminal based on second configuration information, of the plurality ofconfiguration information, respectively associated with the secondterminal, to enable the second terminal to communicate with the secondcontroller when executing the visualization application.

Herein, an overview of some of the embodiments for a design apparatusand associated methods has been presented above. As a roadmap for whatfollows next, an overview of exemplary, non-limiting embodiments andfeatures of a design apparatus and associated mechanisms are describedin more detail. Then, some non-limiting deployment scenarios in whichthe design apparatus can be employed are described, followed by somenon-limiting, exemplary user interfaces. Finally, some non-limitingimplementations and examples are given for additional illustration,followed by representative network and computing environments in whichsuch embodiments and/or features can be implemented.

Multi-Deployment of Applications with Multiple Configurations

As mentioned above, in various embodiments, a design apparatus in anindustrial automation environment enables applications, such ascontroller applications or visualization applications, to be deployedfrom an individual application project to multiple targets whichcorrespond to or entail disparate configuration settings. The designapparatus, however, is not limited to deployment of applicationsaccording to multiple, disparate configurations. For instance, thedesign apparatus can be employed to develop the multiple, disparateconfigurations, design the application, build the application, etc.Moreover, as described herein, the design apparatus can leverageinferential techniques to derive appropriate configurations, thusrelieving a designer from a manual configuration process.

With respect to one or more non-limiting aspects of the design apparatusas described above, FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram illustrating anexemplary, non-limiting embodiment for deploying an application, from anapplication project, to a target based on a configuration correspondingto the target. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 can be employed by adesign apparatus as described below in accordance with one or moreembodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, at 100, a target, to which to installan application specified in an application project file, is identified.As described herein, the target can be a controller (e.g., as a targetfor a control application) or a visualization device, such as anembedded terminal or other computing device (e.g., as a target for avisualization application). At 110, a configuration for the applicationis extracted based on the target identified. For example, theconfiguration can be one configuration in a set of configurations, withrespective configurations, of the set of configuration, respectivelyassociated with disparate target devices. At 120, the application isdeployed to the target, based on the application project file, and inaccordance with the configuration extracted.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingindustrial automation environment configured to utilize one or moreaspects of the subject disclosure. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates anindustrial automation environment 200 configured to utilize theembodiment described above with respect to FIG. 1. Industrial automationenvironment 200 can include a design apparatus 210, which can, in oneexample, be a computing device configured with application designsoftware. Also included in industrial automation environment 200, asshown in FIG. 2, are a set of terminals 220 and a set of controllers230. According to an example, the set of terminals 220 can include oneor more terminals, such as terminal 222 shown in FIG. 2. Similarly, theset of controllers 230 can include one or more controllers such ascontroller 232. Terminal 222 can be, in an example, a display screen ortouch screen embedded on an industrial apparatus. In another example,terminal 222 can be standalone computing device (e.g., mobile device,smart phone, PDA, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet PC, etc.)located remotely from the industrial apparatus but coupled therewith viaa network, or other communications medium. Controller 232 can besubstantially any suitable industrial controller commonly employed inindustrial automation, including, but not limited to, a programmablelogic controller, a motion controller, a supervisory control and dataacquisition system, a distributed control system, a process automationcontroller, and the like.

According to an aspect, design apparatus 210 can manage a plurality ofapplication projects 212, with respective application projectscorresponding to applications for controllers (e.g., controller 232)from the set of controllers 230 and/or for terminals (e.g., terminal222) from the set of terminals 220. In addition, design apparatus 210can retain a set of configurations 214 respectively corresponding to oneor more application projects 212. Design apparatus 210, in an example,is configured to deploy applications based upon an application projectfrom the plurality of application projects 212. During deployment,design apparatus 210 can build the application (e.g., compile, link,etc.) from the project and download the built application to a target(e.g., terminal 222, controller 232, or any other terminal and/orcontroller). During building of the application, design apparatus 210can configure the application in accordance with one or moreconfigurations from the set of configurations 214. The configurationscan include a variety of parameters and/or settings corresponding toaspects of the target. As such, the built applications can bespecialized for a particular target despite being built from a genericor general application project common to a plurality of devices. Forinstance, as shown in FIG. 2, design apparatus 210 can generateconfigured applications 224, which are download to one or more terminalsof the set of terminals 220. In addition, design apparatus 210 can buildand configure configured applications 234 from one or more ofapplication projects 212 and download configured applications 234 to oneor more controllers of the set of controllers 232.

To further illustrate an aspect of design apparatus 210, the set ofterminals 220, in an example, can include a first terminal and a secondterminal. The first and second terminals can be coupled to first andsecond industrial machines, respectively, which perform similar tasks.Accordingly, the first and second terminals can execute similarvisualization applications. However, the first and second terminals,being associated with disparate but identical industrial machines, cancommunicate with disparate information sources (e.g., machinecomponents, controllers, enterprise servers, etc.), can includedifferent sets of authorized operators (e.g., different securitypolicies), and the like. Moreover, the first and second terminals cancomprise different hardware components (e.g., different resolutiondisplays, different brightness settings, etc.). As such, while amajority of a visualization application, as specified in an applicationproject, is reused, without alteration, between the first terminal andthe second terminal, other portions are specific to the first terminaland/or the second terminal. To eliminate maintaining separateapplication projects for the first terminal and the second terminal,design apparatus 210 can maintain a single application project file forthe application deployed to the first terminal and the second terminaland separate configuration settings respectively associated with thefirst and second terminals. Thus, to deploy the application to both thefirst terminal and the second terminal, design apparatus 210 can buildthe application twice, from the same application project, once withconfiguration settings associated with the first terminal and again withsettings corresponding with the second terminal.

In a further, exemplary, non-limiting embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 2,one or more configured applications 244 can be generated by designapparatus 210 and stored on a portable memory device 240. Hence, ratherthan a device (e.g., terminal 222, controller 232, etc.) beingcommunicatively coupled to the design apparatus 210, a device (e.g.,controller 250, terminal 260) can be operating remotely and one or moreconfigured applications 244 can be uploaded locally at the device. In afurther, exemplary, non-limiting embodiment, any configuration data,e.g., configuration(s) 246, pertaining to the remote device (e.g.,controller 250, terminal 260) can also be stored on the portable memorydevice 240. Upon reconnection of the portable memory device 240 withdesign apparatus 210, configuration(s) 246 can be downloaded from theportable memory device 240 to update/modify the existing set ofconfigurations 214.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingdesign apparatus 210, implemented on a computing system, configured tofacilitate deployment of an application to multiple targets withrespective configurations as described above with respect to FIGS. 1 and2. Design apparatus 210, as shown in FIG. 3, can include an input/outputmodule 300 (also referred to as a user interface module). Input/outputmodule 300 can receive user input 302 from a user via, for example, avariety of input devices such as mice, keyboards, touch screens,tablets, microphones, video cameras, etc. In addition, input/outputmodule 300 can generate user output 304 and provide user output 304 toan output device, such as a display screen.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the user input 302 can providedirection(s) regarding which devices (e.g., terminal 222, controller232, etc.) are to receive a configured application(s) (e.g., configuredapplication(s) 224 and 234). Generation of the configured application(s)is performed in accordance with the configuration(s) of a deviceidentified in the user input 302.

As further shown in FIG. 3, input/output module 300 is configured toprocess user input 302 and delegate (e.g., forward) user input 302 torespective subsystems depending on a type of input represented or amode, e.g., state, of design apparatus 210. For instance, designapparatus 210 can exist in a development mode where, for example, anapplication is designed and developed. Accordingly, input/output module300 can forward user input 302 to a designer module 310 and obtain useroutput 304 as development input/output 312. In another example, userinput 302 can relate to configuration settings and/or design apparatus210 can be in a configuration management mode. According to thisexample, input/output module 300 can forward input to and accept outputfrom a configuration module 320 (e.g., shown in FIG. 3 as configurationinput/output 322). In yet another example, a deployment module 330 isincluded in design apparatus 210 to exchange deployment input/output 332with input/output module 300 when user input 302 relates to deploymentand/or design apparatus 210 exists in a deployment state or mode.

As further shown in FIG. 3, design apparatus 210 can include datastorage 340 which can comprises one or more storage units such as adevelopment library store 342, an application project store 344,application configuration store 346, and a target information store 348.While shown as distinct storage units, it is to be appreciated that theindividual stores 342-348 can be separate partitions of a larger datastore (e.g., a database system).

In accordance with an embodiment, designer module 310 can coordinatedevelopment activities of design apparatus 210 and, as such, caninteract with development library store 342 and/or application projectstore 344. As described in greater detail below, designer module 310 canprovide a plurality of development tools which facilitate creation ofcontroller logic for control applications and creation of visualizationscreens for HMI applications. Controller logic and/or visualizationscreens designed via designer module 310 can link to resources suppliedby one or more libraries stored by development library store 342. Thedesigned logic and/or screens, as well as links to libraries, canmaintained as an application project stored by application project store344.

Configuration module 320, according to an example, facilitatesgenerating application settings, changing application settings, andstoring application settings in, for example, application configurationstore 346. For instance, configuration module 320, via configurationinput/output 322, can provide wizards, and/or interface tools, which canbe utilized to manage configurations, which can be employed atdeployment-time to generate configured application specific to selectedtargets. In another example, configuration module 320 can utilize targetinformation store in target information store 348 to autonomouslygenerate configuration for a particular target and/or generate targetinformation based on evaluation of a target. Deployment module 330facilitates deployment of applications as specified in applicationprojects created via designer module 310. Deployment module 330, asdescribed further below, can build applications, incorporate settingsfrom one or more configurations from application configuration store346, and download built and configured applications to a target.

FIG. 3 further shows a comparison module 325 which can be utilized tofacilitate comparison of differences between two or more configurationsthereby enabling an operator to readily determine how a firstconfiguration differs from a second configuration. Comparison module 325can interact directly with the data storage 340, enabling an operator toselect respective configurations (e.g., from application configurationstore 346) to identify the respective differences. Alternatively,comparison module 325 can operate in conjunction with any of the othermodules (e.g., designer module 310, configuration module 320, ordeployment module 330) as each of the module(s) is utilized as part ofthe application/configuration deployment process. For example, aschanges are being made to a configuration, e.g., with configurationmodule 320, respective change(s) between the initial configuration andintermediate/final stages of configuration generation can be presentedto an operator. Input/Output can be provided to a user in conjunctionwith input/output module 300 and comparison input/output 326, therebyenabling a user to visualize the differences between respectiveconfigurations.

Further shown in FIG. 3 is an inheritance module 327 which can beutilized to control the number of parameters/settings/data stored for aplurality of configurations. For example, if configurations aregenerated for 10 controllers (e.g., in set of controllers 230), whereineach configuration includes 10 property settings, a total of 100property settings have to be stored (e.g., in data storage 340,application configuration store 346, etc.) in accord with the 10controller configurations. However, there may be a number of propertysettings that are common to each configuration, and only a subset of thetotal available property settings (e.g., only 2 of the 10 available) areconfigured unique to each controller configuration. In such a scenario,only the unique property settings have to be stored with the remainingproperty settings having a common value. Hence, in the example of 10controller configuration, with 10 property settings, of which 2 areunique to each configuration, the only a total of 28 property settingshave to be stored (8 common+20 unique). Inheritance module 327 can beconfigured to control how/and how many of the property settings are tobe stored. To facilitate visualization of the property settingsinheritance output/input 328 can be utilized to present the propertysettings (e.g., unique or common) to an operator via the input/outputmodule 300.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for developing an application. At 400, input related todevelopment of an application can be received. According to an example,input related to development can include substantially any informationreceived via a user interface associated with development aspects of adesign apparatus (e.g., design apparatus 210), such as, but not limitedto, controller logic, screen designs, designations of visual elements toincorporate on a screen, connections between disparate portions ofcontroller logics, connections between disparate visual elements of ascreen, connections between screens, specification of a library to belinked to the application, definitions of global variables, etc. At 410,an application project, associated with the application, can be modifiedin accordance with the input.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting act ofmodifying (developing) an application project in accordance with userinput. FIG. 5 can include design apparatus 210 configured to, in anexample, implement the embodiment described above with respect to FIG.4. As shown in FIG. 5, designer module 310 of design apparatus 210 canexchange development input/output 312 with, for instance, input/outputmodule 300 described above in connection with FIG. 3. Developmentinput/output 312, in one aspect, can include the input related todevelopment as described above.

Designer module 310 can include, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a projectmanagement module 500 configured to retrieve and store applicationprojects from and to application project store 344. In addition, projectmanagement module 500 is further configured to modify or updateapplication projects retained by application project store 344.Similarly, a library management module 502 is provided, which isconfigured to retrieve, save, or modify libraries from, to, or stored bydevelopment library store 342. A development library, as describedherein, can include a linkable (e.g., dynamically or statically) modulethat includes generic functionality and resources which are reusableand/or of benefit to a wide variety of applications. For instance,libraries can be bundles or packages of logic, visualization objects,graphics, etc., which can be leveraged by any application developed ondesign apparatus 210; thus, eliminating redevelopment or repetitiveimportation of such resources with respective application projects.

Designer module 310, as shown in FIG. 5, further includes a set ofdevelopment tools 504, which can include a plurality of developmenttools, shown in FIG. 5 as development tool one to development tool N,where N is an integer greater than or equal to one. Respectivedevelopment tools can perform an operation on an application project,such as to capture programming code being written, place visualizationobjects on a screen, link visualization objects, links code portions,etc. Respective development tools from the set of development tools 504can be activated (e.g., selected and executed) via developmentinput/output 312 obtained from a user (e.g., an application developer).

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for creating a configuration associated with a deploymenttarget. At 600, input related to configuration of an application isreceived. The input related to configuration can be made in regard to adeployment target. Such input can provide include values for particularconfiguration settings or an entire configuration for a plurality ofsettings. At 610, configuration information is modified or generatedbased on the input. At 620, the configuration information is retained inassociated with an application project of the application.

According to an example, configuration information, for an application,can include a plurality of settings or parameters and be associated witha particular deployment target (e.g., a controller, terminal, etc.). Fora visualization or HMI application, to be deployed to a terminal, theplurality of settings can include connection settings (e.g., networkconfigurations for the terminal, network locations of referenced devices(controllers), gateway information to enterprise systems, etc.),database settings (e.g., database names, database credentials, etc),security settings (e.g., access lists, permissions, security policies,etc), screen settings (e.g., connections between screens, ordering ofscreens, content of screens, graphics object includes on a screen,etc.), library linkages (e.g., specification of which libraries to linkto a deployed application), hardware settings (e.g., brightness,resolution, etc.), and so on. For a control application, to be deployedto a controller, the plurality of settings can include, withoutlimitation, library linkages, network locations of sensors, drives,indicators, and/or other I/O devices, network settings for thecontroller, program settings, machine input/output, locations of deviceon a backplane, and the like.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for generating a configuration based on an analysis of adeployment target. At 700, target information, associated with adeployment target of an application, is received. At 710, the targetinformation is evaluated to identify characteristics of the deploymenttarget. For instance, target information can include a hardwarespecification, including capabilities, of the deployment target, anetwork location of the deployment target, network or communicationcapabilities of the deployment target, a security policy associated withthe deployment target, or the like. Based on the characteristicsidentified, at 720, configuration information, corresponding to thedeployment target, can be generated and/or modified. At 730, theconfiguration information, which is generated or modified at 720, isretained in associated with an application project of the application.

FIG. 8 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary, non-limitingdesign apparatus configured to manage and generate configurationsutilized to deploy an application project to a target. FIG. 8illustrates design apparatus 210 configured to, in an example, implementthe embodiments described above with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7. As shownin FIG. 5, configuration module 320 of design apparatus 210 can exchangeconfiguration input/output 322 with, for instance, input/output module300 described above in connection with FIG. 3. Configurationinput/output 322, in one aspect, can include the input related toconfiguration as described above with reference to FIG. 6.

Configuration module 320, as shown in FIG. 8, can include aconfiguration engine 800 configured to interface with applicationconfiguration store 346 to store new and modified configurations 802 andto retrieve existing configuration(s) 804. New and modifiedconfigurations 802 can include configuration settings established byconfiguration engine 800 based on configuration input/output 322.Further, configuration engine 800 can retrieve existing configuration804 in order to make modification thereto in accordance withconfiguration input/output 322. As previously described, in anexemplary, non-limiting embodiment, inheritance module 327 can beutilized to identify which parameters/settings/data are being modifiedbetween a first configuration instance and a second configurationinstance. As a property is changed, inheritance module 327 can identifya property being altered from a common value and store the common valueand the changed value. Hence, continuing the example with regard to 10controllers having 10 property settings where 8 property settings arecommon across all 10 controller configurations and 2 properties areunique to each configuration instance. In one aspect, a configuration isedited, e.g., one of the unique properties for a configuration ischanged, the changed value can be stored. In another aspect, a situationmay occur where a unique setting is applied to a property that waspreviously determined (e.g., by inheritance module 327) to be common.All instances of the property setting across each of the configurationscan now be flagged by the inheritance module 327 to be unique.Accordingly, rather than the previous 28 parameters (8 common+20 unique)being stored in (e.g., in data storage 340, application configurationstore 346, etc.), owing to a property no longer being common across allthe configurations, now 37 property settings are stored. As furthershown in FIG. 8, configuration 320 can obtain application project 806from application project store 344 to facilitate association betweengenerated configurations and application projects. For instance, new andmodified configurations 802 can be stored in application configurationstore 346 in association with application project 806.

Configuration module 320 can include an autonomous configuration module820 configured to generate configurations based on environment anddevice information associated with a target. Particularly, autonomousconfiguration module 810 can obtain target information 808 from targetinformation store 348, wherein target information 808 is associated witha deployment target, such as target device 840. In autonomousconfiguration module 810, a target analysis module 812 is provided toevaluate aspects (e.g., hardware) associated with the deployment targetbased on target information 808. A network analysis module 814 isprovided which is configured to identify network characteristics (e.g.,locations, addresses, network topologies, etc.) associated with thedeployment target and devices with which the deployment targetcommunicates. Further, a security analysis module 816 is provided todetermine, from target information 808, security polices associated withthe deployment target or devices to which the deployment targetcommunicates. Moreover, autonomous configuration module 810 includes anapplication analysis module 818 configured to evaluate requirements ofan application associated with application project 806. For instance,application analysis module 818 can, based on application project 806,identify characteristics of an environment for which an applicationspecified in application project 806 is expected to reside. Finally,autonomous configuration module 810 includes a configuration generationmodule 820 configured to generate configuration information, which canbe stored in application configuration store 346. In an example,configuration generation module 820 can utilize analysis results fromtarget analysis module 812, network analysis module 814, securityanalysis module 816, and application analysis module 818 to generate theconfiguration information.

In another aspect, design apparatus 210 can include an environmentevaluation module 830, as shown in FIG. 8, which is configured tocompile environmental and device information 834 into target informationretained by target information store 348. In an example, environmentevaluation module 830 can receive environment input 832, which caninclude network topologies, system designs, machine deployments,automation system deployment information, and the like. In addition,environment evaluation module 830 can communicate with a target device840. For instance, environment evaluation module 830 can send a devicequery 842 and obtain device information 844 from target device 840.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for deploying an application to a target in accordance with aconfiguration. At 900, a selected configuration, corresponding to adeployment target of an application, is determined. At 910, theapplication is built from an application project based on the selectedconfiguration. For example, the application, when built, can includesettings (e.g., network settings, connection settings, securitysettings, linker settings, etc.) established in accordance with theselected configuration. At 920, the application can be downloaded to thedeployment target.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting designapparatus configured to download a configured application to a target.FIG. 10 illustrates design apparatus 210 configured to, in an example,implement the embodiment described above with respect to FIG. 10. Asshown in FIG. 10, deployment module 330 of design apparatus 210 canexchange deployment input/output 322 with, for instance, input/outputmodule 300 described above in connection with FIG. 3.

Deployment input/output 332 can include, according to an example, caninclude selections of an application project to be deployed and/orselection of a configuration (or a target) for an application.Deployment module 330 includes a deployment engine 1000 configured tocontrol a deployment process and to interface with data storage 340.Moreover, deployment engine 1000 can process input of deploymentinput/output 332 and generate output of deployment input/output 332.Based on deployment input/output 332, deployment engine 1000 can issueproject selection 1002 to application project store 344 and obtainselected project 1008. In an example, selected project 1008 can be anapplication project associated with an application to be deployed to atarget device. In addition, deployment engine 1000, based on deploymentinput/output 332, can issue a configuration selection 1002 toapplication configuration store 346 and obtain selectionconfiguration(s) 1004. In an example, selected configuration(s) 1004 caninclude configuration settings for one or more target devices to whichthe application derived from selected project 1008 is deployed.

According to another example, configuration selection 1002 can begenerated by a target identification module 1010 of deployment module330, which is configured to determine a target device based on, forinstance, deployment input from input/output module 300. For instance,target identification module 1010 can identify a target label or nameincluded in deployment input and query (e.g., send configurationselection 1002) based on the identified target label or name.

When selected project 1008 and selected configuration(s) 1004 areobtained, a build module 1020 can compile (e.g., build, construct, etc.)the application from selected project 1008 and configured settings ofthe application in accordance with selected configuration(s) 1004.Ultimately, as shown in FIG. 10, deployment module 330 includes adownload module 1030 configured to transmit configured applications 1032to the target device.

The aforementioned embodiments of an application design apparatusprovides a general architecture and various techniques through which anapplication can be deployed to multiple targets (e.g., controllers,terminals, etc.) in an industrial automation efficiently withoutduplicative and redundant utilization of application project copies.Described below are several exemplary deployment scenarios whichillustrate enhancement provided by the application design apparatusdescribed above.

Example Deployment Scenarios

The following deployment scenarios are described in accordance withvisualization applications downloaded to terminals (e.g., HMI devices)which can include touch screens embedded in industrial machines orstandalone computing devices communicatively coupled to industrialmachines or controllers managing the industrial machines. However, it isto be appreciated that the deployment scenarios described herein can beextended to deployments of control applications to controllers.

FIG. 11 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary, non-limiting deploymentscenario in accordance with one or more aspects of the subjectdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, design apparatus 210 with a deploymentmodule 330 can receive a configuration 1100, an application project1102, and target information 1104. Deployment module 330 can build anapplication in accordance with these inputs. In accordance with theexemplary scenario depicted in FIG. 11, a single terminal 1106 iscommunicatively coupled to a set of controllers 1108 which respectivelycontrol one or more machines from a set of industrial apparatus 1110.Accordingly, target information 1104 indicates a single target, e.g.,terminal 1106, and configuration 1100 includes setting associated withterminal 1106 such as connection information to enable terminal 1106 toconnect to and communicate with the set of controllers 1108.

Turning to FIG. 12, illustrated is another deployment scenario whichincludes deployment to two or more terminals (e.g., terminal 1206 andterminal 1208), which communicate with the same set of controllers 1210and/or the same set of industrial apparatus 1212. This scenario issuitable for environment in which a first terminal is embedded in anindustrial apparatus and a second terminal, intended to provide similarfunctionality as the first terminal, is a general computing devicelocated at a supervisory position within an industrial automationenvironment.

In accordance with this scenario, application project 1202 can beutilized by deployment module 330 to build applications for bothterminal 1206 and terminal 1208, which are specified by targetinformation 1204. However, configuration 1200 can include separate anddistinct configuration settings respective associated with terminal 1206and 1208. Accordingly, deployment module 330 builds respectiveapplications based upon the separate configurations and downloads therespective applications to terminal 1206 and terminal 1208.

FIG. 13 illustrates a deployment scenario involving multiple terminalsrespectively communicating with disparate sets of controllers and/orindustrial apparatus. This scenario, for instance, can be applicable toindustrial automation environment including multiple redundant, butidentical, production lines. As shown in FIG. 13, deployment module 330can receive target information 1304 specifying terminal 1306 andterminal 1308. Terminal 1306 can reference a first set of controllers1310, which respectively controls a first set of industrial apparatus1312. Terminal 1308 can reference a second set of controllers 1314,which respectively controls a first set of industrial apparatus 1316.

Further, deployment module 330 can receive an application project 1302and a set of configuration 1300, which includes, at least, aconfiguration corresponding to terminal 1306 and a configurationcorresponding to terminal 1308. With the set of configuration 1300 andapplication 1302, deployment module 330 can compile respectiveapplications for terminal 1306 and terminal 1308, where each applicationis suited for the particular communicative and hardware environmentwithin which the respective terminal resides.

FIG. 14 illustrates a deployment scenario suitable for situations wherean application project is deployed to a development system for testing,verification, and/or validation (e.g., FDA validation, etc) beforedeployment to a production system. As shown in FIG. 14, a deploymentmodule 330 can receive an application project 1400, which can be builtin accordance with a development configuration 1404 and downloaded(e.g., deployed) to a development environment 1408. The same applicationproject 1400 can also be utilized by the deployment module 330 to buildan application based on production configuration 1402, which isdownloaded to a production environment 1406.

FIG. 15 depicts yet another deployment scenario for which the abovedescribed embodiments of a design apparatus can be employed. Thisscenario is suitable for situations in which an application project(e.g., application project 1502) is exchanged between an end usercustomer and an OEM for updating, debugging, etc. The manufacturer canhave a different environment utilized for testing than the ultimatesetup utilized by the end user customer. Accordingly, applications builtfrom application project 1502 are configured differently. As shown inFIG. 15, an application project 1502 can be sourced by both a customerdesign apparatus 1500 and a manufacturer design apparatus 1510. Customerdesign apparatus 1500 can obtain customer configuration 1504, buildapplication 1506, which is built and configured for customer environment1508. Similarly, manufacturer design apparatus 1510 can obtainmanufacture configuration 1512, build application 1514, which is builtand configured for manufacture environment 1516. In this regard,application project 1502 can be readily exchanged between the end usercustomer and the OEM without manual reconfigurations occurring beforethe project can be utilized.

It is to be appreciated that the various configurations (e.g.,terminals, controllers, etc.) with which the various embodimentspresented herein can be utilized are myriad. For example, while FIGS.11-15, present particular combinations of terminal(s), controller(s),etc., the various configurations can extend to multiple scenarioscomprising single or multiple instances of terminals, controllers, etc.For example, in a non-limiting list of configurations, particularconfigurations can comprise of a single terminal communicatively coupledto a single controller, or multiple terminals communicatively coupled toa single controller, or a single terminal communicatively coupled to amultiple controllers, or multiple controllers communicatively coupledwith multiple controllers, etc. Hence, while only a small number ofexample configurations are presented in FIGS. 11-15 the variousembodiments presented herein can be extended as required in accordancewith the number of devices (e.g., terminals, controllers, etc.) coupledcommunicatively.

Example User Interfaces

FIGS. 16-23 are exemplary, non-limiting illustrations of user interfacesof a design apparatus in accordance with one or more aspects. Turninginitially to FIG. 16, illustrated is a user interface of a typicaldesign apparatus in a development mode. As shown in FIG. 16, the designapparatus user interface can be a multi-document interface and includeconventional window features such as a title bar with window controls(e.g., minimize, maximize, close), a title, and icon. In addition, theuser interface can include a menu bar via which functions of the designapparatus can be accessed by a developer. In addition, the userinterface can include one or more toolbars that include frequently usedfunctions of the design apparatus and/or functions customized by adeveloper to be displayed on the toolbars.

In development mode, as shown in FIG. 16, an explorer sidebar can enableexploration of various aspects of an application project. For instance,via the explorer sidebar, project settings, runtime security, globalsettings, etc., can be accessed. In addition, the explorer sidebar candisplay the various screens, e.g., of a visualization application,created for the application project, to enable efficient navigationbetween parts of the application under development.

The user interface can also include a main window portion or editorportion which displays details of the component of the applicationproject being developed, edited, or created. For instance, as shown inFIG. 16, a screen of the visualization application is displayed in themain window portion.

FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary user interface of a configuration wizard inaccordance with one or more aspects of the subject disclosure. As shownin FIG. 17, multiple configurations can be edited or created through theuser interface. For instance, at the top portion, a drop down menuenables selection of an existing configuration for editing. In addition,buttons to add a new configuration or delete a currently selectedconfiguration are provided.

The tab of the configuration wizard shown in FIG. 17 includesapplication setting such as specification of a target terminal, whichcan be expressed by network address or other means, or browsed to andselected via built-in file exploration mechanism of an operating systemsupporting the design apparatus. In addition to specifying a location ofthe target, a target type can be selected via a drop down menu. As shownin FIG. 17, in one example, a visual depiction of the selected type canbe displayed, as well as resolution characteristics of the selectedtype. The user interface, in an example, can display a warning when theselected target type has a display size different from an anticipatedsize assumed during development of the application. To address thewarning, several options (e.g., do not scale, scale with a fixed-aspectratio, stretch to fit, etc.) can be made available. In addition, theuser interface enables selection of system colors (e.g., colors ofdifferent portions of the applications) and languages as shown.

FIG. 18 illustrates a reference tab of the configuration wizard. Similarto FIG. 17, the user interface includes mechanisms to select an existingconfiguration to modify, to create a new configuration, or to delete aconfiguration. The references table enables configuration of connectionor references to controllers, for example. As shown in FIG. 18,referenced controllers can be displayed in a scrollable pane. Areference controller can be depicted as a controller card that indicatesa shortcut (e.g., an arbitrary name by which the controller isidentified), a location of the reference controller within theindustrial automation environment, a location of a project fileassociated with a control application on the reference controller, andsome details regarding the controller.

FIG. 19 illustrates a terminal tab of the configuration wizard. Theterminal tab includes configuration settings for the terminal itself.For example, as shown in FIG. 19, such configuration settings caninclude network settings (e.g., IP addresses, gateway information,etc.), display settings (e.g., brightness, contrast, . . . ), screensaver configuration, and the like.

Turning to FIGS. 20-23, an exemplary, multi-step deployment wizard ofthe design apparatus is illustrated. Starting with FIG. 20, whichdepicts a first step of the deployment wizard, the user interfaceincludes selectable options as to which portions of a configuration toinclude and deploy with an application. FIG. 21 illustrates a secondstep of deployment which includes target identification. FIG. 22illustrates selection of a connection configuration (e.g., a set ofcontrollers to be referenced by the deployed application). Finally, FIG.23 illustrates execution and completion of deployment of the applicationto the target.

The user interface illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 23 are provided tohighlight and describe embodiment and features of the design apparatusdescribed herein and are not intended to limit the appended claims tothe depictions illustrated therein. It is to be appreciated thatalternative user interface can be devised to accomplish thefunctionality described herein and that such alternative user interfaceare intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

While the previously described embodiments (e.g., FIGS. 1-15) relate toan application project (e.g., application project 212) being deployed toa particular device (e.g., terminal 222, set of terminals 220,controller 232, set of controllers 230, controller 250, or terminal260), wherein the application project 212 comprises a particularconfiguration (e.g., any of the configurations comprising set ofconfigurations 214) it is also possible to provide a plurality ofconfigurations to a particular device from which selection of therequired configuration is performed at the device. FIG. 24, illustratesan exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of receiving at a device aplurality of configurations from which a required configuration isselected. In previous non-limiting, exemplary embodiments, a user canconfigure, via a design apparatus (e.g., design apparatus 210), whichapplication project (e.g., application project 212) to provide to aparticular device and a configuration (e.g., any of configurations 214)to be associated therewith. As shown in FIG. 24, a set of configurations(e.g., set of configurations 2414) are provided with an application(e.g., configurable application 2424) for download to a device (e.g.,terminal 2422), whereupon receipt of the set of the configurations,selection of which configuration to utilize is performed at the device,either automatically or manually.

For example, a configurable application 2424 can be forwarded from thedesign apparatus 2410 to terminal 2422, wherein terminal 2422 can be ina set of available terminals 2420. Configurable application 2424 isaccompanied by a set of configurations 2414, where the configurableapplication 2424 is constructed such that it can be in a finalconfigured state based upon any of the configurations in the set ofconfigurations 2414. Upon receipt at terminal 2422, configurationselector 2450 selects from the set of configurations 2414 aconfiguration 2460 to utilize on terminal 2422, and effectivelyconfigure application 2424 therewith. Selection of which configurationto utilize, e.g., configuration 2460 can be based upon any suitablecriteria available to associate terminal 2422 with configuration 2460.Such criteria can be an IP address contained in configuration 2460 thatcorresponds with an IP address of terminal 2422. In another aspect, thecriteria can be based upon a unified plant model (UPM) which is utilizedto identify plant equipment, where such unified plant models includeANSI/ISA-88, ANSI/ISA-95, and similar standards, wherein terminal 2422can be associated with configuration 2460 based on the location ofterminal 2422 with respect to a manufacturing process line, factory,etc. In another aspect, configuration selector 2450 can present theavailable set of configurations 2414 to an operator who at a particularmoment (e.g., initial startup of terminal 2422) selects from thepresented set of configurations 2414 a configuration to utilize onterminal 2422.

Similar functionality can be utilized by controller 2432, wherecontroller 2432 can reside in a set of controllers 2430. A configurableapplication 2434 (which can be the same as configured application 2424)is provided from design apparatus 2410 to controller 2432, whereinconfigurable application 2434 is accompanied by a set of configurations2414. A configuration selector 2452 at controller 2432 can be utilizedto select from the set of configurations 2414, configuration 2462 to beemployed with configurable application 2434 on controller 2432. Asdescribed above, selection of configuration 2462 can be based on anysuitable criteria such as matching of IP address between theconfiguration 2462 and controller 2432, association based on a UPM orsimilar standard, or presenting the set of configuration 2414 to a userfor a user to select configuration 2462 therefrom.

Also, as shown in FIG. 24, a set of configurations 2414 can be stored onportable memory device 2440 along with one or more configurableapplication(s) 2444. Upon connection with controller 2450, configurationselector 2456 can be utilized (in a similar manner to configurationselectors 2450 or 2452) to select configuration 2466 to be utilized withapplication 2444. A similar approach can be employed to provide a set ofconfigurations 2414 to terminal 2460, whereupon configuration selector2454 selects configuration 2464 to be utilized on terminal 2460.Selection of configuration 2464 by configuration selector 2454 in amanner similar to that utilized by any of configuration selectors 2450,2452, or 2456, e.g., selection can be automatic based upon anassociation between terminal 2460 and configuration 2464 (e.g., matchingIP address), or by manual means such as presenting with theconfiguration selector 2454 the set of configurations 2414 from which anoperator of terminal 2460 can select.

Further illustrated in FIG. 24 is a mechanism of querying, by designapparatus 2410, any of respective devices (e.g., set of terminals 2420,terminal 2422, set of controllers 2430 or controller 2432). Byperforming a query operation, design apparatus 2410 can obtain from therespective device, information pertaining to the device such as an IPaddress, UPM identifier(s), etc. which can be utilized by the designapparatus 2410 to uniquely identify a configuration (e.g., in the set ofconfigurations 2414) to be associated with the respective device. Byperforming such a query operation, it is possible to automaticallyassociated a configuration with a device, and thereby minimize errors(e.g., wrong configuration being employed) associated with deploying aconfiguration to a particular device.

It is to be appreciated that the various components illustrated in FIG.24 can function in a manner similar to previously presented components.For example design apparatus 2410 can include functionality of designapparatus 210, terminal 2422 can include functionality of terminal 222,controller 2432 can include functionality of controller 232, portablememory device 2440 can include functionality of portable memory device240, configurations 2414 can include functionality of configurations214, application projects 2412 can include functionality of applicationprojects 212, configured applications 2444, 2434, 2424 with respectiveconfigured application 224, 234, 244, etc.

FIG. 25 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for selecting a configuration with which to configure anapplication. At 2500, a plurality of configurations (e.g., set ofconfigurations 2414) are received at a device (e.g., any of terminal2422, controller 2432, controller 2450 or terminal 2460). Each of theconfigurations can be utilized to configure an application to operate onthe device. At 2510, a configuration, from the plurality ofconfigurations, is selected. Selection can be automatic based uponassociation of matching criteria. For example, selection is based on theIP address of the device corresponding with the IP address in theconfiguration. In another example, selection can be based upon avariable, such as associated with a unified plant model (e.g.,ANSI/ISA-88, ANSI/ISA-95, etc.) being common to the device and theconfiguration. In a further example, selection can be performedmanually, wherein the plurality of configurations are presented to auser, from which the user selects the required configuration. At 2520the configuration is applied to configure the application to be executedon the device.

FIG. 26 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment for querying a device to facilitate association with aconfiguration. At 2600, a device (e.g., any of any of terminal 2422,controller 2432, controller 2450 or terminal 2460) is queried (e.g., bydesign apparatus 2410) to determine information uniquely identifying thedevice. Information for uniquely identifying the device can include anysuitable identifier such as IP address, UPM identifier, etc. At 2610, aparticular configuration (e.g., any configuration in the set ofconfigurations 2414) can be uniquely identified for utilization on thedevice. The uniquely identified configuration can be utilized tofacilitate configuration of an application (e.g., any of applicationproject(s) 2412) to be executed on the device. At 2620 the uniquelyidentified configuration and any associated application are deployed tothe device.

Exemplary Networked and Distributed Environments

One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the variousembodiments of a design apparatus for industrial automation environmentapplications and associated methods described herein can be implementedin connection with any computer or other client or server device, whichcan be deployed as part of a computer network or in a distributedcomputing environment, and can be connected to any kind of data store.In this regard, the various embodiments described herein can beimplemented in any computer system or environment having any number ofmemory or storage units, and any number of applications and processesoccurring across any number of storage units. This includes, but is notlimited to, an environment with server computers and client computersdeployed in a network environment or a distributed computingenvironment, having remote or local storage.

Distributed computing provides sharing of computer resources andservices by communicative exchange among computing devices and systems.These resources and services include the exchange of information, cachestorage and disk storage for objects, such as files. These resources andservices also include the sharing of processing power across multipleprocessing units for load balancing, expansion of resources,specialization of processing, and the like. Distributed computing takesadvantage of network connectivity, allowing clients to leverage theircollective power to benefit the entire enterprise. In this regard, avariety of devices may have applications, objects or resources that mayparticipate in the design apparatus as described for various embodimentsof the subject disclosure.

FIG. 27 provides a schematic diagram of an exemplary networked ordistributed computing environment. The distributed computing environmentcomprises computing objects 2710, 2712, etc. and computing objects ordevices 2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc., which may include programs,methods, data stores, programmable logic, etc., as represented byapplications 2730, 2732, 2734, 2736, 2738. It can be appreciated thatcomputing objects 2710, 2712, etc. and computing objects or devices2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc. may comprise different devices, suchas personal digital assistants (PDAs), audio/video devices, mobilephones, MP3 players, personal computers, laptops, etc.

Each computing object 2710, 2712, etc. and computing objects or devices2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc. can communicate with one or moreother computing objects 2710, 2712, etc. and computing objects ordevices 2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc. by way of the communicationsnetwork 2740, either directly or indirectly. Even though illustrated asa single element in FIG. 27, communications network 2740 may compriseother computing objects and computing devices that provide services tothe system of FIG. 27, and/or may represent multiple interconnectednetworks, which are not shown. Each computing object 2710, 2712, etc. orcomputing object or device 2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc. can alsocontain an application, such as applications 2730, 2732, 2734, 2736,2738, that might make use of an API, or other object, software, firmwareand/or hardware, suitable for communication with or implementation ofthe design apparatus and associated mechanisms in accordance withvarious embodiments of the subject disclosure.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurationsthat support distributed computing environments. For example, computingsystems can be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by localnetworks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many networks arecoupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widelydistributed computing and encompasses many different networks, thoughany network infrastructure can be used for exemplary communications madeincident to the systems as described in various embodiments.

Thus, a host of network topologies and network infrastructures, such asclient/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures, can be utilized.The “client” is a member of a class or group that uses the services ofanother class or group to which it is not related. A client can be aprocess, i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, that requests aservice provided by another program or process. The client processutilizes the requested service without having to “know” any workingdetails about the other program or the service itself.

In a client/server architecture, particularly a networked system, aclient is usually a computer that accesses shared network resourcesprovided by another computer, e.g., a server. In the illustration ofFIG. 27, as a non-limiting example, computing objects or devices 2720,2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc. can be thought of as clients and computingobjects 2710, 2712, etc. can be thought of as servers where computingobjects 2710, 2712, etc., acting as servers provide data services, suchas receiving data from client computing objects or devices 2720, 2722,2724, 2726, 2728, etc., storing of data, processing of data,transmitting data to client computing objects or devices 2720, 2722,2724, 2726, 2728, etc., although any computer can be considered aclient, a server, or both, depending on the circumstances.

A server is typically a remote computer system accessible over a remoteor local network, such as the Internet or wireless networkinfrastructures. The client process may be active in a first computersystem, and the server process may be active in a second computersystem, communicating with one another over a communications medium,thus providing distributed functionality and allowing multiple clientsto take advantage of the information-gathering capabilities of theserver.

In a network environment in which the communications network 2740 or busis the Internet, for example, the computing objects 2710, 2712, etc. canbe Web servers with which other computing objects or devices 2720, 2722,2724, 2726, 2728, etc. communicate via any of a number of knownprotocols, such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Computingobjects 2710, 2712, etc. acting as servers may also serve as clients,e.g., computing objects or devices 2720, 2722, 2724, 2726, 2728, etc.,as may be characteristic of a distributed computing environment.

Exemplary Computing Device

As mentioned, advantageously, the techniques described herein can beapplied to any device where it is desirable to deploy an application,according to a plurality of configurations, to a plurality of devices inan industrial automation environment. It can be understood, therefore,that handheld, portable and other computing devices and computingobjects of all kinds are contemplated for use in connection with thevarious embodiments, i.e., anywhere that where users can access,utilize, or deploy industrial applications. Accordingly, the belowgeneral purpose remote computer described below in FIG. 28 is but oneexample of a computing device.

Embodiments can partly be implemented via an operating system, for useby a developer of services for a device or object, and/or includedwithin application software that operates to perform one or morefunctional aspects of the various embodiments described herein. Softwaremay be described in the general context of computer-executableinstructions, such as program modules, being executed by one or morecomputers, such as client workstations, servers or other devices. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that computer systems have a varietyof configurations and protocols that can be used to communicate data,and thus, no particular configuration or protocol is consideredlimiting.

FIG. 28 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing systemenvironment 2800 in which one or aspects of the embodiments describedherein can be implemented, although as made clear above, the computingsystem environment 2800 is only one example of a suitable computingenvironment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to scope ofuse or functionality. In addition, the computing system environment 2800is not intended to be interpreted as having any dependency relating toany one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplarycomputing system environment 2800.

With reference to FIG. 28, an exemplary remote device for implementingone or more embodiments includes a general purpose computing device inthe form of a computer 2810. Components of computer 2810 may include,but are not limited to, a processing unit 2820, a system memory 2830,and a system bus 2822 that couples various system components includingthe system memory to the processing unit 2820.

Computer 2810 typically includes a variety of computer readable mediaand can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 2810.The system memory 2830 may include computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) and/orrandom access memory (RAM). By way of example, and not limitation,system memory 2830 may also include an operating system, applicationprograms, other program modules, and program data. According to afurther example, computer 2610 can also include a variety of other media(not shown), which can include, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other memory technology, compact disk (CD) ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 2810 throughinput devices 2840. A monitor or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 2822 via an interface, such as outputinterface 2850. In addition to a monitor, computers can also includeother peripheral output devices such as speakers and a printer, whichmay be connected through output interface 2850.

The computer 2810 may operate in a networked or distributed environmentusing logical connections to one or more other remote computers, such asremote computer 2870. The remote computer 2870 may be a personalcomputer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or othercommon network node, or any other remote media consumption ortransmission device, and may include any or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to the computer 2810. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 28 include a network 2872, such local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but may also include othernetworks/buses. Such networking environments are commonplace in homes,offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments have been described inconnection with various computing devices and network architectures, theunderlying concepts may be applied to any network system and anycomputing device or system in which it is desirable to implement a gamefor real-world application.

Also, there are multiple ways to implement the same or similarfunctionality, e.g., an appropriate API, tool kit, driver code,operating system, control, standalone or downloadable software object,etc. which enables applications and services to take advantage of thetechniques provided herein. Thus, embodiments herein are contemplatedfrom the standpoint of an API (or other software object), as well asfrom a software or hardware object that implements one or moreembodiments as described herein. Thus, various embodiments describedherein can have aspects that are wholly in hardware, partly in hardwareand partly in software, as well as in software.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subjectmatter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition,any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarilyto be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects ordesigns, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures andtechniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, tothe extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and othersimilar words are used, for the avoidance of doubt, such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” asan open transition word without precluding any additional or otherelements when employed in a claim.

As mentioned, the various techniques described herein may be implementedin connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with acombination of both. As used herein, the terms “component,” “module,”“system” and the like are likewise intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon computer and the computer can be a component. One or more componentsmay reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a componentmay be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers.

The aforementioned systems have been described with respect tointeraction between several components. It can be appreciated that suchsystems and components can include those components or specifiedsub-components, some of the specified components or sub-components,and/or additional components, and according to various permutations andcombinations of the foregoing. Sub-components can also be implemented ascomponents communicatively coupled to other components rather thanincluded within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, it canbe noted that one or more components may be combined into a singlecomponent providing aggregate functionality or divided into severalseparate sub-components, and that any one or more middle layers, such asa management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to suchsub-components in order to provide integrated functionality. Anycomponents described herein may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein but generally known bythose of skill in the art.

In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the described subject matter can alsobe appreciated with reference to the flowcharts of the various figures.While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies areshown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood andappreciated that the various embodiments are not limited by the order ofthe blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and describedherein. Where non-sequential, or branched, flow is illustrated viaflowchart, it can be appreciated that various other branches, flowpaths, and orders of the blocks, may be implemented which achieve thesame or a similar result. Moreover, some illustrated blocks are optionalin implementing the methodologies described hereinafter.

In addition to the various embodiments described herein, it is to beunderstood that other similar embodiments can be used or modificationsand additions can be made to the described embodiment(s) for performingthe same or equivalent function of the corresponding embodiment(s)without deviating therefrom. Still further, multiple processing chips ormultiple devices can share the performance of one or more functionsdescribed herein, and similarly, storage can be effected across aplurality of devices. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited toany single embodiment, but rather is to be construed in breadth, spiritand scope in accordance with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: identifying, by a systemincluding a processor, a plurality of entities to which to install anapplication specified by an application project file; ascertaining, bythe system, respective characteristics and respective network settingsof the plurality of entities; generating, by the system, respectiveconfiguration information for the plurality of entities based upon therespective characteristics and the respective network settings of theplurality of entities; producing, by the system, respective specializedapplications from the application for the entities based upon therespective configuration information; and deploying, by the system, to afirst entity a first specialized application corresponding to the firstentity and to a second entity a second specialized applicationcorresponding to the second entity, wherein the first entity isassociated with a first industrial process and the second entity isassociated with a second industrial process that is different from thefirst industrial process.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondentity is part of a development system containing the second entity, andthe first entity further is part of a production system.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the second entity is part of an original equipmentmanufacturer system, and the first entity is part of a customer system.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective configurationinformation comprises respective security policies of the entities. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the respective configuration informationcomprises respective environmental information related to the entities.6. A system, comprising: a memory; and a processor, coupled to thememory, configured to execute computer-executable modules stored in thememory, the computer-executable modules comprising: a designer moduleconfigured to generate an application project file comprising anapplication; an autonomous configuration module configured to identifytarget information comprising respective characteristics of a pluralityof target devices for the application, wherein the autonomousconfiguration module further comprises a network analysis moduleconfigured to determine respective network settings of the targetdevices; a configuration module configured to generate respective setsof configuration information for the target devices based upon therespective characteristics and the respective network settings of thetarget devices, wherein the respective sets of configuration informationfor the target devices are associated with the application project; abuild module configured to compile respective builds of the applicationfor the target devices based upon the respective sets of configurationinformation; a deployment module configured to install on a first targetdevice a first compiled build of the application corresponding to thefirst target device and install on a second target device a secondcompiled build of the application corresponding to the second targetdevice, wherein the first target device is associated with a firstindustrial process and the second target device is associated with asecond industrial process that is different from the first industrialprocess.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the autonomous configurationmodule further comprises a security analysis module configured toidentify respective security policies associated with the targetdevices; and the configuration module is further configured to generatethe respective sets of configuration information for the target devicesbased upon the respective security policies associated with the targetdevices.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the autonomous configurationmodule further comprises an environment evaluation module configured toobtain respective environmental information regarding environments inwhich the target devices are located; and the configuration module isfurther configured to generate the respective sets of configurationinformation for the target devices based upon the respectiveenvironmental information regarding environments in which the targetdevices are located.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the configurationmodule is further configured to store respective configurationinformation having common values from the sets of configurationinformation for the target devices in respective common locations andstore respective configuration information having unique values from thesets of configuration information for the target devices in respectiveunique locations.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the characteristicsof the plurality of target devices comprise respective hardwarecharacteristics of the target devices.
 11. The system of claim 6,wherein the deployment module further comprises a download moduleconfigured to download the first compiled build of the application tothe first target device.
 12. The system of claim 6, wherein theapplication is at least one of a control application deployable to acontroller or a visualization application deployable to a terminal,wherein the controller and the terminal are included in an industrialautomation environment.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the terminalis embedded in an industrial apparatus in the industrial automationenvironment.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon that, in response to execution, cause asystem including a processor to perform operations comprising:determining respective characteristics and respective network settingsof a plurality of target devices to which to install an applicationspecified by an application project file; producing respectiveconfiguration information for the plurality of-target devices based uponthe respective characteristics and the respective network settings ofthe plurality of target devices; assembling respective specializedapplications from the application for the target devices based upon therespective configuration information, where each specialized applicationis different from others of the specialized applications; and installingto a first target device a first specialized application correspondingto the first target device and to a second target device a secondspecialized application corresponding to the second target device,wherein the first target device is associated with a first industrialprocess and the second target device is associated with a secondindustrial process that is different from the first industrial process.